Speech at Sertoma Club by Diane Diekman, July 23, 2024

Good afternoon. Thank you, Ray [Brooks], for inviting me here today, and thanks to all of you for being interested in the Battleship South Dakota Memorial. I would like to introduce Karen Dunham, one of my fellow board members, who is with me today. She owns Dunham Residential Real Estate; I’m sure many of you know who she is. She’s been with the Battleship Memorial since its beginning. She was a sailor at the Naval Reserve Center when it was dedicated in 1969, and she has worked with all the crewmember reunions since then, and she puts together all the ceremonies we do now.

NEWS

George Strait’s manager of 45 years, Erv Woolsey, 80, died March 20 in Clearwater, Florida, due to complications from surgery. MusicRow reports he “passed peacefully under the care of physicians.” Eugene Ervine “Erv” Woolsey was born in Houston on February 15, 1944, and spent his entire professional life in the music business. After graduating from Southwest Texas State University, he moved to Nashville and became Head of Promotions for ABC Records’ new country division in 1973. He and his then wife Connie owned The Prairie Rose in San Marcos, Texas, the club where he first saw George Strait perform. (more…)